Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
From: Jeremiah 1:1, 4-10
The Lord calls Jeremiah
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[1] The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilki′ah, of the priests who were in An′athoth in the land of Benjamin.
[4] Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, [5] “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” [6] Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. [8] Be not afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you. [9] Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. [10] See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build up and to plant.”
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Commentary:
1:1-19. The book of Jeremiah is a collection of the prophet’s oracles arranged more by subject than in chronological order and interspersed with stories about his life. The heading (vv. 1-3), as in most of the prophetical books, introduces the prophet and tells when he lived. Then, as an introduction to the book, comes an account of the call of Jeremiah (vv. 4-10) along with two visions that give a good description of the man (vv. 11-12 and 13-19).
1:4-10. This account of the call of Jeremiah gives a very good idea of the mysterious nature of every divine call – a call from all eternity and involving no merit on the part of the person called, in which God makes known to a soul the why and wherefore of his or her life. No one comes into being by accident, for everything that happens is part of God’s providence (v. 5). God’s action in creating a person is described graphically – “formed” you in the womb – a word used to describe what a potter does when he models something in clay. The Lord “knew” Jeremiah – a reference to his choosing him for a specific mission (cf. Amos 3:2; Rom 8:29); God has a plan for each person, and he endows each with talents that equip him or her to put that plan into effect. The passage also talks of a “consecration”, that is, the earmarking of a person or thing for the service of God. God’s plan for someone, made before the person is born, emerges in due course, when he or she is old enough to take on the assignments that God has been preparing him for. Glossing this passage, St John Chrysostom, has God say this: “I am the one who knit you together in your mother’s womb. Your life is not a work of nature, nor the fruit of suffering. I am the origin and cause of all things: you should obey and offer yourself to me,” and he adds: “It does not begin with I consecrated you: first, I knew you; then I consecrated you. Thus is the original choice shown, and after the original choice, the particular calling” (Fragmenta in Ieremiam, 1).
When the mystery of a person’s calling begins to be revealed, their initial reaction can be one of fear, because they are very conscious of their limitations and feel that they are not up to the tasks that the Lord entrusts them with. Jeremiah, for example, argues that he is too young (v. 6). We do not know how old he was at the time, for the word he uses to describe his age (na’ar) is imprecise. He was probably only an adolescent (cf. Gen 37:2; 1 Sam 2:18; 3:1-21). In responding to a vocation, one needs to listen, above all, to God who calls, who never leaves his chosen ones on their own, and who always gives them the wherewithal to carry out the mission he is charging them with (vv. 7-8).
The Lord’s symbolic gesture of putting out his hand to touch Jeremiah’s mouth, as if to fill it with divine words, is similar to other gestures found in accounts of the calling of prophets (cf. Is 6:7; Ezek 2:8-3:3; Dan 10:16). It is to tell the man not to be concerned: he can rest assured that God will give him the right words to express himself. It is a promise similar to that made by Jesus to his disciples: he assured them of the Holy Spirit’s help when the time came for them to bear witness to him (cf. Mt 10:19-20).
The assignment given to Jeremiah implies a heavy responsibility; he will need fortitude if he is to carry it out (v. 10). It involves in the first place doing destructive things (plucking up, breaking down, destroying and overthrowing) and only then come constructive roles (building and planning). St Gregory the Great will apply the same idea to the attention that is called for in the pastoral care of the faithful: “One cannot build up if what disturbs the foundation has not been destroyed. In other words, the sweet words of good preaching are sown in vain if the thorns of self-love have not first been plucked from the hearts of listeners” (Regular pastoralis, 3, 34).